Chelsea's new obsession with profit and transfers sees academy prospects cast aside as transfer makeweights

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A look at the way Chelsea have treated some of their academy players lately.

To put it better, a Chelsea fan shouted during the early days of the Graham Potter era, "This is not Chelsea." Then another followed swiftly from the Matthew Harding stand, "We are no longer Chelsea Football Club; we are Chelsea Football Business."

This has been the theme of the club since the Clearlake Ownership took over just a little over two years ago. Top-rated Academy players who have gained promotion through years of hard work and made it into the first team have been used as transfer make-weights to balance the books. Even though that is nothing new in football, eroding every part of the club’s foundation might come back to hurt them at some point.

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Mason Mount left for Manchester United last season. When Mason first broke through to the first team and was playing regularly under Frank Lampard, there were talks within the previous ownership that he would be a club legend and someone that they would look after and ensure he stayed for the best part of his career. But Russia attempted to invade Ukraine, and Roman Abramovich was forced to sell. The rest is history for Mason Mount at Chelsea.

Then last summer, it was Conor Gallagher. He was tossed around, and with two years left on his contract, he stood still. Chelsea were willing to sell another player the academy looked up to as an inspiration. That has continued this summer; expect Gallagher’s contract to dominate the rumour mill in the coming weeks. If Chelsea gets anything close to £50million, they’d take that in an instant and wave goodbye to one of their stand-out players from last term.

The debate is still out there on what exactly Gallagher brings to the squad, but there is no hiding from the fact that last season, he was one of the club’s top performers. Constant speculation over his future is unlikely to be good for a player who is looking to have a settled spell in his career as he sits on the fringes of the England starting XI.

Then there is the curious case of Trevoh Chalobah. When he started a league game last season, they never lost. He fought his way back from a knee injury he picked up in pre-season, wrestled back his starting slot from Axel Disasi, and helped move the team from 10th on the league table up to sixth. Surely that is what sports are about: competition to bring the best out of everyone.

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Well, his reward for that is that he’s been left to train with the development squad with a clear message that his future is destined to be away from Stamford Bridge. For someone who joined the club before he was allowed into a pub, to be trained by the principles of Cobham and be rewarded with an exit is the new reality of football - a ruthless business.

But are Chelsea really better off without their academy players? As things stand, taking emotion out of the equation, the team on the first day of the season is likely to be Sanchez, Gusto, Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella, Fernandez, Caicedo, Dewsbury-Hall, Palmer, Nkunku, Jackson.

The question is whether that is a top-four side because, as displayed last season, it could be one that struggles to challenge for Champions League football. Time will tell if the owners are doing the right thing. At the moment, the message is clear: there is no longer loyalty in the game.

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